Large generators in power plants are cooled with hydrogen as a rule. In the event of malfunctions, this hydrogen must be removed from the generators as rapidly as possible. This rapid emptying is performed by discharging the hydrogen into the atmosphere via the roof of the power house. Since hydrogen is an explosive gas, there is the risk of a detonating gas explosion upon exit into the atmosphere and upon mixing with the atmospheric oxygen. The pressure wave propagating from the ignition location above the discharging device can cause damage to the roof of the power house in which the generators are located.
Devices of the type mentioned at the beginning are provided in order largely to reduce this pressure wave loading. Such a device for discharging an explosive gas is described in DE 195 17 163 A1, for example.
In this known arrangement, the exiting gas is separated into a number of gas jets corresponding to the number of the exit openings; said gas jets are separated from one another spatially, at least in the ignitable volume regions thereof. The gas jets can therefore not ignite together, and so the pressure wave occurring from an explosion is of smaller amplitude.
However, this does not hold in the case of strong wind conditions. Given strong wind conditions, the ignitable volume regions separated spatially from one another can be blown together again to form a single large ignitable volume region.